Yelp Traffic Stats Suggests Broad Local Usage

Yelp is often dismissed as a bar and restaurant site for recent college grads in San Francisco. But site usage released by the company suggests that it has rather broad usage, and shouldn’t be so readily pigeon-holed. The site also says it had 15 million uniques in October, up 200 percent from the same period in 2007, and has now gathered four million reviews.

According to Yelp stats, 34 percent of its reviews are “restaurant” oriented, seven percent are for “arts and entertainment,” and 4 percent are for “nightlife.” But these categories account for just 45 percent of the site’s overall usage. Another 23 percent are for “shopping”; 8 percent are for “beauty and fitness; ” seven percent are for “home and local services”; four percent are for “health”; three percent are for “travel and hotel”; and three percent are for “auto.”

The site also isn’t as heavily dependent on recent college grads as is generally thought. 23-29 years olds make up 37 percent. Thirty six percent are between the ages of 30-39, and 12 percent are 40-49. The site is also 51 percent male/49 percent female. But no information was sent about the site’s geographic distribution this time around. Company executives have suggested it is seeing broad distribution in a number of markets.